Soap switch for Valentine

It’s a rarity in Australian television, but in coming weeks the role of Libby Kennedy in Neighbours will be played temporarily by McLeod’s Daughters actress Michala Banas, and not Kym Valentine.

As was reported last month, Valentine became seriously ill during a return flight from New York to Melbourne. Found to be suffering from pneumonia, she passed out on the flight and was immediately hospitalised when the plane landed.

“I did not know when I got on the plane that I had pneumonia,” Valentine told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“All I had was a sore back and I thought I had popped a rib or pulled a muscle.

“If I had known my lung had collapsed there is no way I would have boarded that plane.”

With her role so crucial to current storylines, producers reluctantly decided to ask Michala Banas to step into the role temporarily, allowing Valentine a month to recuperate.

“It has been very difficult, but I know I have to do this. I know I have to get better,” Valentine said.

“I will be back. Don’t you worry about that.

“I will be back in four weeks.”

Replacing actors is more common when an actor exits a show. The original Scott Robinson was played by another actor before Jason Donovan. The role of Lucy Robinson has been played by several young actors. Jack Scully was also originally played by another actor before Jay Ryan / Bunyan.

In the US a 64yo Joan Crawford once filled in for her 29yo daughter Christina who was recovering from surgery on The Secret Storm. And Donna Reed spent a year as Miss Ellie Ewing, the mother of JR, temporarily replacing actress Barbara Bel Geddes in Dallas.